Queensland’s resources jobs market is outpacing job vacancies in the rest of the state’s economy at a rate of 15 to one, according to analysis from the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).
QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said the figures in the latest State of the Sector report reinforce the importance of the resources industry, especially when our agriculture sector is doing it tough.
“If Queenslanders are looking for a job, they need look no further than the resources sector,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“The resources sector is hiring and the majority of the jobs are in regional areas.”
According to the Queensland Major Projects Pipeline Report, around $2 billion of resource projects are currently under construction with a further $19 billion in the pipeline to 2022-23.
“This growing project pipeline has propelled the sector’s labour economic demand,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“Queensland job advertisements for resource-related jobs have risen at around fifteen times that of all jobs in the Queensland economy.
“In the three years to April 2019, the number of job advertisements for mining- related occupations has increased by 94%, whereas the number of job advertisements across all industries increased by just 6%.
“The most recent jobs figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show Queensland’s trend unemployment rate is now at 6.3 per cent.
“In the year to date, the unemployment rate in resources regions has been substantially lower than the national rate.
“The development of Queensland’s resources sector pipeline provides an opportunity to create good, high paying jobs especially for regional Queenslanders.
“That’s why it’s so important that the Government provides a stable and transparent investment framework, including no sudden royalty hikes and a clear set of rules for all projects.
“According to the QRC’s latest CEO Sentiment Survey, 53% of QRC member CEOs expect to increase the total workforce at their Queensland operations over the next 12 months-with 10% planning a substantial increase. Not a single CEO said they planned to reduce their workforce in the coming 12 months.
“But we can’t take these job opportunities for granted.
“Industry, government and regional communities must all row in the same direction to deliver on those opportunities.”
